A few days ago, a picture leaked of the kids’ Halloween costume design of the villain of the upcoming Superman movie, The Man of Steel, General Zod.
It looked rather like Lord Humungus from The Road Warrior. With a fur cape.
That got me to thinking: The Lord Humungus was cool—I’d actually kind of like to see him as a comic book villain. (I don’t know if he’d be ready to go up against Superman…but seeing as Superman’s major movie nemeses have been “Evil Land-Use Schemes” and “His Own Inner Demons and Personal Failings,” maybe I’m wrong.)
So, that brings me to this topic: What are some movie (or TV) bad guys that YOU think would do well if transplanted to a comic book universe or movie?
My picks?
•UNISOL Andrew Scott, from Universal Soldier. AKA “the one Dolph Lundgren played.” Skilled, powerful supersoldier…zombie…cyborg…thing. Also completely, violently, delightedly, cheesefully insane.
•The Nothing, from The Neverending Story. Jus’ popped into my head…kind of a weird choice, especially if you’re thinking of a villain for a summer action blockbuster. But I’ve seen superheroes “battle” abstract antagonists before. And I’ve seen the last 20 minutes of Akira. I think It’s got a shot.
•Neil McCauley from Heat. Eh, what the heck. An interesting foil…and Hans Gruber was just too obvious.
So, anyone else? Master criminals? Monsters? Killer clowns?
The problem is that comic book characters are far too overpowered.
Put Hannibal Lector into the DC Universe and Superman would have him wrapped up.
Or put any of them in the Authority’s universe and they’ll be dead. Though putting Lector’s ability to read people up against the Midnighter’s ability to predict actions might be interesting. But Lector would still die in the end.
Jafar, from ALADDIN, seems to have a pretty solid approach to villainy: first ensorcel yourself a head of state, and then make sure to wear a disguise while sending a clueless hireling off to retrieve one of those enchanted artifacts that get dug up from time to time in comic-book universes.
The Thing would work. The trick will be in arranging matters so it doesn’t eat the whole biosphere, but there’s various ways a comic book setting could forestall that possibility. Or not…
IT aka Pennywise the Clown would be one hell of a Batman villain. And somehow, even though he’s a clown, not at all a Joker retread. I’d actually love to pitch that to DC. The interaction between Mista J and Pennywise would be worth the cover price.
The “batmen” from Stephen King’s short story The Ten O’Clock People. They’re a pod-people style monster that replaces prominent figures. Only people who are trying to quit smoking can see them due to a unique chemical imbalance. Perfect for the Punisher. He can rampage around the country hunting, torturing, and executing “batmen” all the while the entire Marvel superhero universe thinks he’s actually assassinating elected officials. This culminates in an epic standoff where The Punisher somehow holds his own with guns, claymores, and his wits in a sort of Assault on Precinct 13-style raid with Cap, Spidey, Thor, Wolverine, et al as the raiders. It obviously culminates in a dramatic reveal of the “batmen” in which the superheroes now take the fight to the batmen.
The Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man vs. Superman. At first Supes would be looking for Mr. Mxyzptlk, and while the big softie is itself no match for the Man of Steel, Gozer may be able to do some damage. Maybe Ambush Bug could come by and do color commentary.
“Death” from the Final Destination series, versus… hmmm, what characters do I want to see die in hilariously convoluted ways…? OK, against any characters that Rob Liefield has created what are still being used, with the possible exception of Cable.
One I thought of a long time ago was from Goldeneye. (if you haven’t seen it and still plan to and don’t want to be spoilered that a villain gets killed and James Bond wins, well, what’s wrong with you?) There’s this computer geek villain in the movie and he winds up getting killed with liquid nitrogen or something really cold like that. After the movie I turned to my friend and said “You know, if that movie was set in the Marvel Universe, that guy would be back in a few months as Frost-Byte”
